Bathroom tiles

bathroom tiles got done at the end of December. Here's Eric with his handiwork. We still have to do the floors, install the safety bars, and install the all important glass partition.

Staircase I: Bringing in the pieces

We decided to go ahead with installing the staircase over the winter. This comes from the same stock of ash we used for the kitchen counters. Will sawed up the raw ash boards in is workshop and laminated them into a landing for the staircase. This is actually the back of the landing, and will be hidden from view. The face-up side will have fewer darker whorls in it (although I like the whorls; it givees the hardwood character). It looks like he laminated about 8 1-inch boards before planing, sanding, and applying 4 coats of polyurethane finish.

The image at right shows the actual treads and risers for the stairs. I believe these are made of the 1 1/2" planks. To the left you see the railings Will installed to keep people from flying off the second floor into the living room. These are also made of the same ash (there seems to be a theme here). I believe some of these pieces will also be used as baseboards and false runners to for the staircase. I like the two tone grain. It was an old, huge tree and we got it just before it started rotting. I believe the tree was about 80 years old, which is about the lifespan of ash. They are a fast growing but short-lived tree. 

Autumn cloud

I guess this isn't a house picure as such, but it is a view from the house site. The setting sun is reflecting nicely off these low-level cumulus clouds. Pretty.

Choosing colours

We are very happy with how the door colours worked out. Willy actually stained them with two coats of Muskoka red. It actually looks better here, a little darker than anticipated, but I think it actually looks better than the preview. The lighting probably helps.

It's pretty much the only splash of colour on a very neutral house, so it doesn't overwhelm the eye as you might expect red to do.


Choosing Door Colours
So red it is for the doors, but which red?

After deliberating with Willy, we decided to go with a stain instead of paint. Paint chips, especially on doors; stain does not. Stain also lets more of the grain of the wood get through and protects the wood.

Fortunately, a company called Sansin offers a fine alternative of saturated colors in stain (see link below). They offer three shades of red, and I had to see how they looked so I simulated them on some image editing software. They are in order of appearance:

• Primary red
• Heritage red
• Muskoka red

We already picked out a colour. Can you guess which one? We're ordering it tomorrow from Simon Fortin in Abercorn (he built the wall trusses).



Link: Sansin saturated colors

Hydronic heating partially installed

The hydronic heating system is partially installed. Seen here is the utility closet. The first picture gives the view from the living room (a door will eventually block this view, although the plumber and I agreed that this beautiful work of copper and heating technology should be displayed; Lisa seems to think utilities should be hidden by silly doors; what an artsy!). The second image shows the view looking around the corner in the closet to the right towards the hot water tank.


I've already pretty much outlined everything this does, so if you are technically inclined, I refer you to the link to the solar hydronic heating system at the right side of the blog to read up on this.

Roof and chimney flashing

The roof is finally covered. We actually got it done end of September, but I haven't had time to update. It's good to get it done, though, especially with these torrential rains we've been having. It was one of those things that kept me up nights. The unfinished roof was actually covered by a black, water-proof membrane that held through the winter and summer, but there is nothing like the security of 26 gauge metal over your head.

Lisa and I were originally horrified by the flashing around the bottom of the chimney. Then we looked around at some roofs with brick chimneys. Flashing is just not pretty. You just don't notice it until you really look.

The flashing is important. It keeps the water from infiltrating in the crack between the chimney and the roof metal. We have a leaky roof now in the old place. Not fun. We'll keep the flashing as is.

Kitchen window sill

A nice thing about timber frames over conventional houses is that the walls are made of light trusses and can be made thick. A side benefit of this is deep window sills. Lisa made an executive decision to have Willy finish the kitchen windows with the same ash as our kitchen counter tops so that we can treat it as an extension of the counter. It was kind of hard to capture this because of the glare you get off the finished wood near windows, but these pictures illustrate the effect. The window remains unfinished for now, but eventually (i.e. when we have money again) we'll have the ash lining the entire window. Lisa is putting on a urethane finish on all the windows to protect them from mold and condensation in the wintertime. I wish I could say it was worth the effort, but I can't because it's all Lisa's effort; we have occasionally discussed the advantages of PVC when faced with the work necessary for maintaining wood windows. This will be the only window finished for the winter. We thought we'd leave it all until the spring, but Lisa figures she likes her time in the kitchen and that it will be all the more pleasant with a finished window supplying that extra counter space. .